Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
:This article is for the Playsatation 2 release of the game. For the subsequent Xbox release, see Fatal Frame II Director's Cut. Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, known in Japan as Zero ~Akai Chou~ and in Europe as Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly, is the second installment in the Fatal Frame series. The game resumes the characteristic use of a camera to fend off ghosts, only this time without the claim of being "Based on a true story". Despite this, Fatal Frame II is arguably the most known of the Fatal Frame series, due to its engaging story, refined use of the camera and abundant scares. __TOC__ Synopsis Twin sisters Mio and Mayu Amakura are visiting a childhood play spot when Mayu, who walks with a limp after a childhood accident, follows a mysterious crimson butterfly deep into the woods. Mio, concerned for her sister, follows Mayu, and the two girls are led to a lost village. The village is curiously empty, and it is revealed to have been cursed by some past event, trapping the village in perpetual night. As the Amakura twins investigate, they discover the Camera Obscura and are set upon by the ghosts of the past villagers. Mayu is eventually led astray by the ghosts, and Mio becomes determined to save Mayu and escape before they meet the same cursed fate as the village's former residents. However, Mio learns that in order to save her sister and escape the village, she must delve deeper into the ritual that was performed in the village; the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual, where one twin must kill the other. Plot Mio and Mayu visit the a spot in the forest that they used to play in during their childhood. The area is soon to be a dam site, and the two sisters reminisce about the times they spent here. While remembering an accident in the forest that left Mayu's leg weak, Mio notices that her sister has disappeared. She sees Mayu chasing after a crimson butterfly, and after following her, the two are spirited away into the lost village. The village is the site of a mysterious ritual, and the latest result of the ritual caused the village to be trapped in continuous night and disappear from the region. The two sisters decide to investigate before leaving, entering one of the nearby family houses. Inside they find the abandoned Camera Obscura, as well as the diaries of a woman who came to the village in search of her missing boyfriend. After finding her final diary, the woman's ghost attacks the sisters in anger. After exorcising the ghost with the camera, Mio passes out and learns in a vision that the ghost, Miyako Sudo, was trapped in the village and killed by her boyfriend's ghost. Mio wakes up, only to find her sister about to leave the house on her own. Mayu is then shown following a trail of crimson butterflies towards the house of the village's ceremony master, the Kurosawa House. The gate to the Kurosawa house is locked, however, and Mio must find the keys needed before pursuing her sister. She gets help from a white-haired boy named Itsuki, who is locked inside one of the village's storehouses. Itsuki says to Mio, whom he refers to as "Yae," that "the ritual is about to start," and tells her the location of the gate keys. During this time, Mio is free to explore the village, while also searching for the gate keys. After finding them, Mio makes her way to the ceremony master's house. Inside of the Kurosawa house, Mio confronts more ghosts of the villagers, including a fearsome entity called the "Kusabi," which pursued and murdered much of the village. This happened during the Repentance, the disastrous result of the failed Crimson Sacrifice. Mio finally reunites with Mayu, however, she is beginning to show signs of possession, moving erratically and sometimes speaking as if she were someone else. Unable to escape through the house's front opening, the sisters try to pass the underground basement, however, Mayu gets locked inside of prison cell while retrieving a key. The cell is held closed a lock, the keys for which is found in a separate locations in the village. Again the two must separate, and Mayu has to wait for her sister to find the key. After leaving her sister behind Mio is directed towards the Osaka house, where a family altar hides a passage to an underground storage cave. Mio searches for the key inside the cave, but mistakenly alerts the ghosts that haunt the village's underground. One of the ghosts drops the key Mio that unlocks Mayu's cell, and after picking it up Mio can either defeat the ghosts or avoid them. Key in hand, Mio returns to her sister's side. Upon Mio's return to the cell, however, she finds that Mayu has yet again disappeared. It is revealed that Mayu has entered the Kiryu House another large house in the village and is making her way to the Tachibana House through the bridge connecting the two house. As the door to the Tachibana house is locked, Mio makes her way through the Kiryu house to retrieve her sister. While searching through the Kiryu house Mio learns more about the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual. The ritual involves one twin killing the other in order to protect the village from harm. The twin that is left after the ritual is referred to as the Remaining, and they suffer from so much grief that their hair turns white. Some time ago, twins born to the Kiryu house, Akane and Azami Kiryu, also underwent the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual. Eventually Mio finds out that the bridge Mayu just crossed has somehow become locked, and that there is another way, an underground tunnel, that Mio can use to enter the adjacent house. On her way through the tunnel, however, Mio is stalked by the ghost of the last crimson sacrifice, a woman in a bloody white kimono. In running from the ghost Mio drops the camera, and has no choice but to exit the tunnel without it. Inside of the Tachibana house Mio is still being chased by the malicious ghost. Without the Camera Obscura to defend herself Mio has no choice but to flee from the ghost, go back to the tunnel and retrieve the camera. The tunnel is only one-way, so Mio must navigate through the Tachibana house and use the connecting bridge to return to the Kiryu house and re-enter the tunnel from there. The ghost follows Mio as she goes through the house, laughing and asking Mio not if she is "leaving me again." At some point she also imitates Mayu's voice in an effort to trick Mio. Mio is able to avoid the ghost, return to the tunnel and retrieve the camera moments later. Entering the Tachibana house she finds that the ghost with the bloody kimono is no longer in pursuit, and she is able to resume her search for Mayu. While exploring the Tachinbana house Mio uncovers more of the town's history. It turns out that Itsuki also had a twin brother, and they had performed the Crimson Sacrifice. Their ritual failed, however, and the villagers became desperate to prevent the Repentance from occurring. Mio is able to find Mayu, who seems to have regained her composure, and the two decide it's time they escape the village. They plan to use an escape tunnel beneath the town shrine, which was sealed off after twins in the past used it and were caved in. Mio knows how to unseal the entrance to the tunnel, however, and she heads to the Old Tree, where the mechanism to open the way is located. In order to open the tunnel, Mio needs to gather the four crests that are held by each household of the village. Mio has already picked up the Tachibana crest while inside the Tachibana house, and so she must collect the remaining three crests in the other locations. Mayu is tired however, and must rest while her sister gathers the crests. While unconscious Mayu repeats the three locations of the remaining crests; :"Deep in the cemetary...an altar..at the Tsuchihara grave, " :"The bridge that connects the two houses...a doll...a secret room in the wall..." :"A womnan...hiding in a kimono box..." As Mio places her hand on Mayu's shoulder, she swept into a vision that Mayu's sixth sense reveals. In the vision, Mio is walking down a path leading to the Hellish Abyss deep below the village. It is here that the Crimson Sacrifice takes place, and upon arriving at the abyss, she is shown that her sister has already fallen within. Determined to save her sister, Mio finds the other three crests, but before returning she heads to the storehouse to see Itsuki one last time. When she arrives, she learns that Itsuki was imprisoned in the storehouse for helping Yae and Sae escape. The escape failed, however, and only Yae was able to leave the village. Sae was brought back to fulfill the ritual alone, and Itsuki was locked in the storehouse. Unable to bear the grief of failing his brother and friends, Itsuki took his own life, hanging himself inside the cell. Like Mio, Sae went to the storehouse to see him one final time, however she arrived too late. Mio returns to the old tree and unseals the tunnel out of the village. While on their way to the tunnel, however, Mayu is captured by the ghosts of the villagers, who want to use her to complete the ritual yet again. Mio makes her way to the Kurosawa house, where the way to the abyss is found. Upon reaching the abyss, Mio is shown what occurred on the day the village was swallowed in darkness. Since only Yae had escaped the village, the people panicked, not knowing if they should continue with the ritual. Sae waited for her sister to return, believing in the promise they made to always be together. In the end the villagers decided that the ritual must go on, or else the malice spilling out of the abyss will be too much. Sae was taken to the abyss alone, and was hanged and thrown in. Because the ritual was meant for one twin to kill the other, Sae's sacrifice failed, and her corrupted spirit returned from the abyss, bringing the darkness that engulfed the entire village. Along with Sae, the ghost of the Kusabi, an earlier sacrifice, returned and the two spirits unleashed their vengeance on the villagers in what was known as the Repentance. Sae and the Kusabi slaughtered the people of the village, and Sae's laughter filled the air. Sae vowed to wait forever for her sister, however, and when Mio and Mayu arrived the villagers saw their chance to repeat the ritual to free themselves. Sae possessed Mayu, determined to repeat her sacrifice, but this time Mio would be here to be by her sister's side. Depending on the game's difficulty and the player's choice, Mio must defeat the ghost of the Kusabi or Sae herself, and once doing so, frees herself and the village from the curse of the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual. Endings There are four potential endings for the game. Two can be obtained by completing the game on varying difficulties while one is exclusive to the Director's Cut version of the game for the Xbox. Normal Ending Finding Mayu in time, Mio looks to see the ghosts lining up in a circle as she goes to tug at Mayu. Mayu says to her sister that there is no other way out but to finish the ritual, and Mio has no choice but to take her sister's life. Mio's hands are placed on Mayu's neck and soon enough Mayu is dead. The ghosts pick Mayu up, throwing her into the Hellish Abyss, completing the ritual. A single crimson butterfly soars up, and Mio chases after it in tears. She says how sorry she is, before finally seeing Mayu is leading her to the gate. We then see swarms of the butterflies, all from the past rituals before the final scene shows. Mio sits by herself, her neck showing as you see a single crimson butterfly on it, symbolizing the twins' becoming one. Good Ending Running to save her sister, Mio finds Mayu possessed and about to jump before finally taking her hand saving her at the last moment. In doing so, the ghost of Sae is expelled from Mayu's body and falls into the Hellish Abyss. However, while pulling her sister up Mio accidentally gazes into the abyss. The sight of the souls inside the abyss rushes into Mio's eyes and permanently blinds her. Mayu then recounts how the two escaped the village and were found unconscious in the woods. She also states how the village is no more before we see the two sitting on a bench overlooking the new lake. We see that Mio's eyes are covered with bandages before Mayu speaks, saying that it's her turn to take care of Mio now. Bad Ending Mio realizes she cannot keep her promise to Mayu and runs away alone through the tunnel beneath Kureha Shrine. While running, she hears Sae's voice asking "Are you going to leave me again?". She hesitates, hearing Itsuki's voice tell her not to look back. She turns around after hearing Mayu's voice call out, only to see a menacing Sae moving towards her. Mio freezes in shock and fear as Sae approaches her and all goes black. A moment later Mio wakes up by a river alone. Worried, she calls out to Mayu repeatedly, but receives no answer. Both Sae and Mayu now wait forever for their sisters. This ending is achieved by exiting underneath Kureha shrine instead of going to the Kurosawa house to save Mayu. This scene is much less of an ending than the others, resulting in a Game Over rather than the finishing credits. Promise Ending Mio is running down a tunnel to get to the sacrificial site. When she sees Mayu heading towards the abyss in a trance, she calls out her name and runs to her. The priests banging their staffs vanish and, as Mio runs, Yae's spirit appears out of her. Yae walks toward Mayu, who takes the form of Sae as she turns around to face her twin. Yae apologizes for leaving her sister alone and Sae forgives her. The twins join hands and walk towards the pit, promising to be together for eternity. Realizing that they both intend to jump, Mio runs towards to Sae, who is using Mayu as a host. Just before they fall she wraps her arms around Sae's waist and pulls Mayu out of her just before Yae and Sae jump into the abyss. With the ritual succeeding the crimson butterflies fly from the pit and go off into the sky. The souls of the villagers and victims of the Repentence are seen throughout the village, watching the butterflies. Mio and Mayu leave the village, hand in hand. Mayu confesses that she was overwhelmed by the fact that they would live and die separately. Mio tells her that, even though that will happen, she'll never let Mayu go again. The sun rises and the game ends on a happy note. Gameplay Fatal Frame II uses gameplay mechanics very similar to its predecessor, with some changes and updates. For most of the game you control Mio Amakura, except for some short scenes where you control her elder twin sister Mayu. Mio's only weapon is the Camera Obscura, an antique camera with the ability to take pictures of ghosts and exorcise them. Like in the previous game, special film types and lenses can be found that increase the damage it can deal. The camera's native functions and the special lenses can be upgraded using Spirit Orbs found in the game and points earned from photographing ghosts. The camera also features a unique filament which glows red when facing a hostile ghost and blue when there is a non-hostile ghost nearby. During the game, Mio has to explore the entire village area and its central buildings, and needs to find various objects and solve puzzles in order to advance. In addition to hostile ghosts, there are numerous vanishing and hidden spirits Mio can photograph to receive clues or reveal the story of the village. The game is divided into chapters, mostly related to certain areas which Mio visits as she chases after her sister. The total number of chapters is nine, with a special tenth chapter available in hard and nightmare difficulty settings. The game has a new game plus feature, where you can start a new game while keeping your camera with all the special functions, lenses and upgrades from the previous game, as well as all your stored health supports and film. Over multiple playthroughs you can unlock various bonus content, including a mission mode, different outfits, gallery features and special lenses for the camera. In mission mode, the player is presented with a challenge, usually to kill certain ghosts as quickly as possible or getting the highest points possible. Director's Cut Gameplay The director's cut edition for Xbox also has an FPS mode, where you can play through the entire game in first person. This does a lot in fixing the problems inherent with fixed camera locations. Unfortunately, the FPS mode also takes away some of the game's atmosphere. The Xbox version also included a shop, where you can trade points from pictures for items, a survival mode, a new ending, enhanced graphics, and a greater number of alternate costumes to unlock. Reception The game's aesthetic presentation was highly praised by both critics and fans alike. As the name would suggest, the dominant color for the game was a brilliant red, creating a very bold and striking contrast in comparison to much of the game's shadowed and nocturnal settings. The title was ranked #2 in Gametrailers' "Top Ten Scariest Games" in 2006, and #3 in X-Play's "Top Ten Scariest Games of All Time." Game Informer ranked it number one on a similar list. Translation Differences While the English translation of the game is generally of high quality, one important thing could not be carried over from the original Japanese. In Japanese, Mio calls Mayu "Onee-chan", meaning literally "big sister", clearly indicating the order of the twins. While this is perfectly normal in Japanese, it would sound odd in English, and therefore Mio calls Mayu by her name instead. Because of this, there is in the English translation that would tell you which of the twins is the elder, while in Japanese it was clear that Mio was the younger and therefore destined to be sacrificed - until the revelation near the end that in the village tradition the twin order is reversed, and Mio's fate is to sacrifice her sister instead. This revelation is largely lost in the translation. Trivia * If the game is left idle for about five minutes, the image of a ghost's face will appear sporadically on the screen, like a screen saver. The ghost's identity is not specified, however. * There are a total of 8 unlockable costumes for Mio and Mayu. Gallery * For all images of Fatal Frame II see Fatal Frame II images. Category:Games Category:Fatal Frame II